“We would like to inform you that Epoch Systems and Paycom EU will no longer offer ePassporte as a method of payment disbursement,” read an email notice sent out to all Paycom members late last week. “This change is effective immediately. If you are a client who currently receives payment disbursements via ePassporte, please contact [us] to make other payment arrangements.”
The email goes on to say that Paycom is “committed to providing the most reliable and valuable services to its clients by focusing on products and features that ensure continued long-term stability for your business,” leaving some to question whether the company believes ePassporte’s existence will be short-lived.
Despite his surprise, Mallick appeared at ease with the news.
“It’s nothing,” he told XBiz. “A blip in the radar.”
Mallick said he had no prior discussion with representatives at Paycom about the issue, nor did he care to conjecture as to why the decision was made — though he admitted to having an idea but would not elaborate.
“They just decided to stop paying webmasters by ePassporte,” he said. “But this has really little to no effect on ePassporte. Most webmasters are paying their affiliates themselves. Sponsor programs, our largest clients, use ePassporte to pay for their traffic and signups, and they don’t use Paycom to make those payments for them.”
It was in July 2005 that Paycom and ePassporte first split, only five months after Mallick had left his position as CEO and chairman of Paycom. After the split, which Mallick admitted had “difficult moments,” he assumed ownership and control of ePassporte.
Since that time, Paycom had continued to provide backend services to ePassporte.
Paycom representative Rand Pate requested XBiz email questions about the decision to drop ePassporte so the company’s lawyers could evaluate responses. At press time, XBiz had not received an official response from Paycom to its inquiries.